Text message sent to wrong number leads to stranger attending family funeral

By Harriet Armstrong| 2 years ago

Heart-warming response goes viral

A text message accidentally sent to the wrong recipient had a heartwarming result for one Canadian family.
On September 17, college student Leena Ali received a text from an unknown number.

The message was from a Toronto-based woman named Dawn Burke, who had intended the message for her nephew Quentin.

(Twitter)

The message provided details about the upcoming funeral of her sister, Debbie.
"It’s auntie Dawn! Just to let you know Auntie Debbie's celebration of life will be Friday between 1 and 4," the text read.

At first Leena pretended to be Quentin, before revealing to Dawn that she had the wrong number.

(Twitter)

"I'm just playin this isn't Quentin. [You] got the wrong number auntie Dawn. But can I come celebrate auntie Debbie's celebration of life [with you] guys?" Leena wrote to Dawn.

Moved by the gesture, she said yes.

Last week, the Brock University student drove 30 minutes to Debbie Celar’s wake, where she arrived with a fruit bowl.

"Culturally, that’s what we do,” Leen, who is of Sudanese descent, told The Star. "If someone invites you somewhere or brings you somewhere, you should bring something,"

Walking into the wake she was greeted by a "sea of confused faces" before she sought out Dawn, who was elated the surprise guest had finally made it.

"I showed her the fruit bowl. And she freaked out and got all excited," said Leena.

The heart-warming tale has gone viral on Twitter, after Leena shared screenshots of Dawn’s text messages.

The post currently has over 5,500 likes and more than 1,270 shares.

"My family hasn't stopped talking about that all weekend long... they are telling everyone about this story!" Dawn later tweeted.